obtaining an account

Because i don't want this part of the site to become an internet freak show, accounts are only given to people who were involved in the Chicago area scene from about 1985-1995. There are 2 ways to establish this:

1. Email me. If i remember you, or if you can describe people, places, or events that i recognize, you're in.
2. Have an existing account holder email me on your behalf.

Accounts are free, all you need is permission and a valid email address.*

what you get

Account holders can (of course) view all the photos on the site. As of this writing (01 March 2007) there are over 1400 of them; that number is increasing all the time -- i started 5 years ago with only about 200.

Anyone with an account can display photos on the site. For the time being, the pics need to be sent to me so i can put them up myself. If there's enough interest, i'll make it so you can add a page to the album yourself right here via the site.

As a means of supporting this site, i'm considering offering CDs of images to those with accounts (the price would pretty much be the cost of the materials plus a couple bucks for my time & trouble). If there's any interest in this, i might also offer a free CD to anyone posting a page of 20 or more photos.

Another feature i might add if people seem to be interested is the ability to download photos at a high enough resolution for quality prints, and/or to order a CD of high resolution images.

Having an "album-enabled account" also enables you to post messages to the bulletin board.

* privacy policy

I need a valid email address mainly because i'll need to contact you to let you know whether or not you've been given an account. I would eat glass before i would give or sell your email address to anyone else. I HATE SPAM SO MUCH that i'd rather set myself on fire than help a spammer in any way, unless it's into a coffin filled with pointy things and earwigs. I also will not reveal email addresses even to other account holders, so you don't have to worry about being mail-bombed by the person whose boy/girlfriend you "stole" ten years ago or whatever.